Putin Declares State of Emergency Following Oil Spill in Siberia

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared a state of emergency after a fuel tank at a Siberian power plant collapsed on Friday and spilled 20,000 tonnes of diesel oil into the Arctic Circle’s Ambarnaya river, BBC News reported. The oil spread around 12km (7.5 miles) from the plant, reportedly contaminating a 350 sq. km (135 sq. mile) area.

Located near the city of Norilsk, the power plant belongs to a subsidiary of Norilsk Nickel, a leading nickel and palladium producer. The spill happened when pillars supporting the fuel tank began to sink. The plant is built on permafrost which has been melting in a warming climate, BBC News reports.

In a televised conference on Wednesday, Putin lambasted the company after finding out government officials only learned of the accident on Sunday after “alarming information appeared in social media.” Putin has launched an investigation into the accident and a manager at the plant has been detained, BBC News reported.

According to World Wildlife Fund expert Alexei Knizhnikov, this accident is the second-worst in modern Russian history. Greenpeace has compared the incident to the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska. Extra forces will be sent to help clean up the spill, a task which experts have said will be difficult due to the volume of oil and the geography of the area.

Oleg Mitvol, former deputy head of Russia’s environmental watchdog Rosprirodnadzor, told BBC News: “there has never been such an accident in the Arctic zone.” According to Mitvol, the clean-up operation could cost 100bn roubles (£1.2bn; $1.5bn) and take from five to ten years.

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